Minnetonka Girls Hockey On Its Way To State

A 4-0 defeat of Benilde-St. Margaret's in the Section 6AA championship game kicked off a jubilant celebration for the Minnetonka girls hockey team as the Skippers punched their ticket for the program's first-ever state tournament.

"I'm so proud of our girls," coach Eric Johnson said. "They worked their butts off to get to this point — they deserve it."

Minnetonka, the section's No. 1 seed was out-shot by the second-seeded Red Knights, but propelled themselves to the section title on the strength of a short, yet decisive offensive outburst in the second period.

With some fans still finding their way back to their seats from the Parade Ice Garden concession stand, Skippers forward Carolyn Draayer gave her team the only goal it would need tipping home a rebound off an initial offering from forward Kira von Steinbergs at 2:44 of the middle frame.

Draayer's tally had barely been announced to those in attendance before Minnetonka struck again — this time on a blistering slapshot by forward Paige Baldwin from just inside the blue line, assisted by forward Laura Bowman — at 3:58.

"We were out-shot in that first period, but the second period went our way," Johnson said. "We caught some momentum and rode that."

Benilde called a timeout to regroup after Baldwin's stunner, but the damage had been done and by the time forward Hadley Cookson netted an unassisted tally at 11:38 of the period, some Skippers fans were already secretly passing out section champion t-shirts amongst themselves.

"We have a lot of respect for Benilde and they had a great season," Johnson said. "We got some breaks and bounces to go our way."

After two periods without a penalty, Kira von Steinbergs delivered the game's final goal on its first power play as the Minnetonka forward, assisted by Draayer, put home goal No. 4 for the Skippers at 5:04 of the third period.

The victory all-but clinched, all that remained was to see whether Minnetonka goaltender Julie Friend could claim the shutout.

Benilde did not make it easy on her, firing home 15 of its 28 total shots in the concluding interval, but Friend turned each and every one aside — then lifting her arms to exuberantly count off the last seconds of the contest before the final horn blew to proclaim Minnetonka as section champions and touch off an exultant mob scene in front of the Skippers' goal.

"Julie was solid in net and that gave the team confidence," Johnson said. "I don't think we ever relaxed, but we felt in pretty good shape."

Minutes later, Skippers players were given their championship medals and handed the section championship plaque to raise aloft as the festivities carried themselves off the ice, in and out of the locker room — and all the way back to Minnetonka.

Johnson's club, which has amassed a 23-1-1 record (it's lone loss coming to Shattuck-St. Mary's) and currently holds the No. 1 position in the Class AA poll, seems nearly a shoe-in for the top seed for state, which begins next week.

The Skippers' seed will become official following a conference call between the Minnesota State High School League and participating state coaches at 10 a.m. Saturday morning.

The Class AA state tournament is scheduled to begin on Thursday, Feb. 24 with first-round games being played at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. The opening game is slated to begin at 11 a.m., with the day's final start at approximately 8 p.m.

After three days of play, the Class AA champion will be crowned on the evening of Saturday, Feb. 26.

"We'll be ready for it," said Johnson of the state tournament. "It was a pretty big point for us in getting over the hump, but now that we made it, there will be no trouble in getting up for it and getting focused."